IT hiring was flat in September for the first time in 2006, a sign that a looming economic slowdown may be making tech sector inroads.IT hiring was level in September, the first month without growth in more than a year, according a report released by the National Association of Computer Consultant Businesses, an Alexandria, Va.-based trade association that represents IT staffing and solutions firms, on Oct. 11.
"With employment of IT professionals within some key non-IT sectors slowing, overall IT employment was flat in September," said Mark Roberts, NACCB CEO, in a statement.
There were 3,667,100 IT jobs in September 2006, down 0.01 percent from August 2006, a signal of slowing growth.
Despite the unchanged number of jobs, September showed the second highest amount of IT employment, after August, yet in 2006, a number up 4.2 percent from September 2005.
IT professionals remained in strong demand among ISPs, search portal and date processing companies in IT dominated sectors, as well as in non-IT sectors such as financial services and health care.
With this report, IT may be just beginning to show the pains seen in the larger economy, whose federal employment numbers have failed to meet economist's forecasts for three consecutive months.
IT employment accelerated in May 2006, according to the report issued in June by the NAACB, even as the Labor Department's employment levels fell short.
Over 100,000 jobs were cut in September, according to another published report, the highest in 2006. The computer industry contributed 27,000 to this sum.
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